The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-01-26


"Well, as | said, we supposed that
the battle was over and our troops sue
cessful, and were doing what we could
to assist the wounded, when, TO our
great surprise, splendid column of
the famous Black Horse Cavalry, of
which you have read so much, came
charging down upon us. AT first we
supposed they were our troops, but
soon saw they were rebels, and made a
rush for big, stout six-rail Virginia
fence near by. A good many who had
guns and revolvers whipped them out,
and as the cavalry stopped and poured
volley into us we returned it with
some vigor and effect, for as they rode
off after the first volley we could see
several riderless horses. Young Nc
Cook, brother of the general, who
was doing a private's duty, was killed
by their fire, as were others on our side.
Well, although the Black Horse Cav.
airy disappeared as suddenly as it
came, every man around the hospital
who could move his legs became panic
stricken instantly and stampeded. In
a minute the place was deserted by all
except our party, and we then got into
our carriages and started toward Wash
ington.
GAS we moved along, the woods on
each side of the road appeared to be
emptying themselves of soldiers, who
were all running as fast as they could,
and pretty soon the road became block
AIDED by teams, army wagons, riderless
horses, wounded men, cannon-and
everything that had the power of mo-
/ oil nd ha I'M, Il oh
ing and climbing over one another, in
the greatest excitement and confusion.
Soldiers were throwing away their
guns, their knapsacks, and unloading
themselves for flight. Army teamsters
were cutting their horses loose from
the wagons, artillery-men were doing
the same, and you never saw, and no
one can imagine, a wilder or more be-
wildering spectacle. Everybody seemed
to have gone crazy.
81 saw little drummer boy who
had got under the feet of some horses,
and after much difficulty extricated
him and put him on the box of our
carriage, which by that time was loaded
down with frightened soldiers, trying
to get away from the battle. We
turned them all off, and the newspa-
pers afterwards said that we refused to
assist wounded men. That was one of
the charges they made against me.
:" In the crowd saw E. b. Washburn
of Illinois and Congressman Shanks of
Indiana, with their hats off, trying to
rally the men and persuade the soldiers
to turn back and do their duty. But it
had no effect whatever. The whole
mass of men were like lot of fright
ened cattle and seemed to think of
nothing but getting to some place of
safety, and the whole crowd, which
grew larger and larger until it num-
bered several thousands. would have
run as far as Washington had not Mr..
Wade and Mr.. Chandler, who were in
their carriage ahead of us, got out and
stopped them.
"When we had gone about mile from
Fairfax we saw Senator Henry Wilson
drive by alone in a light buggy, and
called to him. He told us to hurry off,
as the rebels were coming. Then we
saw Mr.. Wade and Mr.. Chandler get
out with their rifles. / asked them
what they were going to do, and Mr..
Wade replied that they were going to
stop these runaways. We alighted with
them, and, taking guns we had picked
up on the roadside or revolvers that
we had taken with us, the eight of us
stretched across the road and forbade
any man to pass. The fleeing men saw
that we were in earnest, and Mr. Wade
and Mr.. Chandler used some strong
language to bring them to their senses.
cold Ben stood in the middle of the
road, with his hat on the back of his
head and his rifle in his hand, and said
he would shoot the first man who at
tempted to run any further. Mr..
Chandler was very much excited. His
face was pale and his eyes were blood
shot, and in his hand he had a big
navy revolver which he was brandish-
ing in the air while shouting to the
panic-stricken soldiers that they were a
lot of fools and towards and could not
retreat any further unless they went
over his dead body, The rest of us did
what we could, but in few moments
we had the crowd at bay.
"The only man who passed us was a
soldier bearing dispatches from Gen
eral Mcdowell to General Scott at
Washington, and we would not let him
go until we found out what his errand
was. A teamster, who had cut horse
loose from an army wagon and was
riding him with the harness on, acct
dentally fired his revolver, and the
shot, which l could hear as it passed
me, took effect in the wrist of Majo
Eaton, Mr.. Chambers friend This
caused some confusion, but did not
make any difference. Not a man got
by our line, and many of the soldiers,
becoming ashamed of their cowardice,
joined us in trying to stop the panic.
"Order was somewhat restored and
the retreat was stopped, when Colonel
Crane of the Second New Jersey, who
had been on duty at Fairfax Court
house, came up with bis regiment and
asked what was the trouble. Mr. Wade
explained to him the situation and he
said he would relieve us. He soon
brought order out of confusion, re-
formed the men, and then we went
on our way toward Washington. "-E1-
change,
GA WORD TO THE WISE is SUFFI-
GENT. "-Catarrh is not simply an in
convenience, unpleasant to the sufferer